Calendar of Upcoming Events
Tuesday, September 5
Trustees Meeting. Church Library, 7:00 PM
Monday, September 11
United Methodist Women. Library, 7:00 PM
United Methodist Men. Crichton Fellowship Hall, 7:00 PM
Tuesday, September 12
Finance Committee Budget Meeting. Library, 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 14
Financial Peace University (First Class). Library, 6:45 PM.
Sunday, September 17
New Members Sunday. Combined Service, Sanctuary, 10:30 AM
Cuban Sandwich Sunday. Crichton Hall, 11:45 AM
Monday, September 18
Care Committee. Connie Mosley’s Home, 6:30 PM
Tuesday, September 19
Nominations Committee. Library, 6:00 PM
Sunday, September 24
Bishop’s Town Hall. Hyde Park UMC, Tampa, FL, 6:30 PM.
Monday, September 25
Deadline for Annual Conference Reports.
Saturday, October 7
Our Kids Florida Plus! Training. St. Luke’s UMC, 4851 S. Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando, Florida, 10 AM-3 PM.
Thursday, October 12
Annual Charge Conference. Sanctuary, 3:30 PM
Saturday, October 21
UMM Flapjack Fundraiser. Applebee’s Restaurant, Providence and Lumsden, Brandon, 7-9 AM
New Members Sunday
We will be honored to receive new members into our RUMC Family on Sunday, September 17th. We are anticipating new additions to both our Hispanic and English congregations. If you are interested in joining us, and/or if you are need of Baptism, please let Pastor Merritt or Lay Pastor Norma know as soon as possible.
Financial Peace University
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU) is a perfect introduction to gaining financial freedom for individuals, couples, and families. Through the course of nine 90-minute sessions, participants will learn how to pay down their debt, save for the future, and create a helpful budget that works for you and your spouse. The course allows families to plan, save, and grow together.
The next FPU session will be starting at Riverview First United Methodist Church on Thursday, September 14, at 6:45 PM in the church library. Sessions will run for the next nine Thursday evenings. Cost for the course is $95.00 which includes all the materials you will need for the course. This video introduces the course. You can pre-register at this link.
Important Church Decisions in September
Yikes! Our church’s Annual Conference has been scheduled a month earlier than usual this year. It will be held on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 3:30 PM in our sanctuary. This meeting date and time was set to accommodate our new Superintendent, the Rev. Dr. Candace Lewis—who is attempting to preside at the Annual Conferences of the more than 50 added churches in her newly-formed Gulf Central Conference.
Consequently, we are having at least three important organizational meetings in August and September this year. There will be an important Staff-Parish Relationship Meeting on Tuesday, August 29th at 6:30 PM in the church library, and a follow-up Budget Meeting by the Finance Committee on Tuesday, September 12th at 7:00 PM in the church library. These meetings will help us establish the budget for church operations in 2018.
There will also be an important Nominations Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 19th at 6:00 PM. At this important meeting, the church will attempt to fill many recent vacancies in the leadership of the church.
Reports for our Annual Conference must be completed on-line, and the deadline for submitting reports is Monday, September 25th. (Please make sure that copies of the reports are provided to the church office.) There is a lot of early work to be done to get ready for our mission in 2018 and beyond.
Helping Our Children
Again this fall, we will be helping our friends at Riverview Elementary School through our donation of school supplies. Please note that only unopened, packaged basic supplies will be accepted. The school cannot accept used items, toys, DVD’s, books, etc. Supply bins have been placed in the narthex and outside the church office.
We are also collecting children’s books as part of the Metropolitan Ministry project. The books are to be supplied to children who attend our Saturday luncheons in partnership with Metropolitan Ministry.
Your donations in helping children in either of these ministries will be greatly blessed.
Fall Social Events at RUMC
On Sunday, September 17, the Care Committee will be doing a Cuban sandwich and chips luncheon. This luncheon will immediately follow our worship service and will begin at approximately 11:45 AM. You can eat your sandwiches in the fellowship hall, or take your lunches to go.
The United Methodist Men have scheduled their next Flapjack Fundraiser for Saturday, October 21st. The breakfast will be held at the Applebee’s Restaurant on Providence Road just north of Lumsden Avenue. Tickets and more information on the Flapjack Fundraiser will be available in September.
Confirmation Classes
If any youth are interested in attending Confirmation Class this fall, please notify Pastor Merritt by the end of August. Confirmation is a process whereby youth in middle school or high school learn about Christian faith and Methodist beliefs and traditions. At the end of the process, the attendees will confirm their faith commitment to Jesus Christ, and will become full members of the RUMC church family.
8002 U. S. Highway 301 South, Riverview, FL 33578 813-677-5995
Sunday Services
Faith Groups/Sunday School, 9:00 AM-9:55 AM
Relationships/Refreshment, 10:00 AM-10:25 AM
Worship Service, 10:30 AM
Hispanic Worship Service
12:00 Noon
Rev. Merritt Waters, Pastor
Norma Encarnacion, Lay Pastor, Hispanic Congregation
Here at Riverview First United Methodist Church, it is our mission to win people to Christ, to train believers to become disciples, and to send disciples to impact our community and the world for Jesus Christ.
Download the September, 2017
BELL Newsletter from this link.
Online Giving at RUMC
Giving online is easy and allows you to set up automatic recurring contributions and view your complete online giving history from anywhere you have access to the Internet. Or you can enter one-time contributions from the internet or by smart phone.
To get started, simply follow these easy steps:
- Click on the Online Giving button below. This will take you to our church’s online giving webpage.
- Click on our Create Profile button on that webpage.
- Follow the onscreen instructions to create an online profile and to schedule your recurring or one-time contributions.
Download the Prayer Tree for
Bible Passage of the Week
He Tore Down the Wall
It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
Ephesians 2:1-6 (The Message)
Responding to
Hurricane Harvey
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is urging all Methodists to assist the residents in Texas and Louisiana who have been adversely impacted by Hurricane Harvey. UMCOR list five ways you can provide assistance:
- Pray for those whose lives have been impacted. Prayers are needed for displaced and hospitalized residence, early responders, disaster coordinators, and the many volunteers who are working tirelessly to provide relief and assistance.
- Make relief kits. For instructions, including a packing list and a shipping label, can be found at this link. Or, bring your relief kits and buckets to the closest UMCOR collection point which is at First UMC Lakeland, 72 Lake Morton Drive, Lakeland, FL 33801. The coordinator for the Lakeland Collection Center is Joe Dionisi (225) 252-1061 or email him at jdio1@aol.com
- Provide financial assistance. You can donate online to www.umcor.org/donate. The Advance Number for Hurricane Harvey is #901670. To donate by mail, address your check to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068 and note the advance number in the memo line of the check.
- Replenish those items that are needed. Relief supplies will continue to be needed for Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma (threatening Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Florida) and future disasters as they arrive. You can keep relief supplies in stock by donating to www.umcor.org/donate and giving to the Material Resources Advance, #901440.
- Standby to assist. The Florida Conference will soon be coordinating volunteer relief efforts that will need volunteers. Wait for a future invitation to participate in those efforts.
UMCOR is grateful for your relentless prayers and support.
